Towel dryers are used to dry and warm towels in bathrooms and the like. A towel dryer has an outer surface that supports a towel to be dried. The surface is heated above ambient room temperature by connecting the surface to an energy source, typically heated fluid or an electrical energy source. Towel dryers for residential use are typically plugged into a home's electrical receptacle if electrically heated, and may be connected to a home's hot water system if heated by fluid. The hot water system may also supply water to radiators that heat the home.
It is believed that a towel dryer operates mainly by transferring heat to the towel by conduction and natural convection. Heat is transferred by conduction directly from the dryer surface to the portion of the towel in contact with the surface. Heat is also transferred indirectly from the towel dryer to the towel by natural convection, the towel dryer heating the surrounding air and the heated air transferring heat to the towel.
It is believed that at normal operating temperatures, radiant heat transfer is not an important mechanism in transferring heat from the towel dryer to the towel. However, heat can be lost from the towel dryer by such radiant heat transfer. Heat loss by radiant heat transfer wastes energy and lowers the efficiency of the towel dryer because radiant heat transfer cools the dryer surface without effectively contributing to warming and drying the towel. Reducing heat loss by radiant heat transfer would enable the towel dryer to be more energy efficient: the towel dryer could reach a higher operating temperature with the same energy input, or would reach the same operating temperature with reduced energy input.
Towel dryers are generally constructed of a base body of unalloyed steel with a surface coating, in order to attain certain desirable coloration appearances. In this practice, depending upon the location of the said towel dryer, different coating procedures are used. Thus it is possible, for example, that towel dryers in residential areas are provided with a powdery coating or they may be lacquered. Most likely a towel dryer in a bathroom can be electrically chromed.
The above described procedures and materials have the disadvantage, that the surface coating negatively affects the heating capacity of a steel towel dryer. The term “heating capacity” is related to the amount of energy that must be supplied to maintain the towel dryer at its operating temperature. A towel dryer with a higher heating capacity will maintain its operating temperature with less energy input than would a similar towel dryer with a lower heating capacity.
Thus, for example, an electrically chromed, steel towel dryer, as compared to a lacquered or powder covered steel towel dryer, will yield only 20 to 30% as much heat. This poor rendition of heat from chrome covered steel heating bodies results in the construction of very large heating bodies, which in turn, each disadvantageously require a large space allotment.
It is believed that a chromed steel body loses more heat by radiant heat transfer than a lacquered or powder covered steel body. This appears to be due to the higher emissivity of the chromed steel body as compared to the lacquered or powder covered steel body. The greater the emissivity a body has, the more efficient it is in losing heat by radiant heat transfer. The higher emissivity of the chromed steel body causes greater heat loss through radiant heat transfer, reducing the heating capacity of the body and reducing the energy efficiency of the towel dryer.
The purpose of the present invention is to create a towel dryer with a similar, highly reflective surface, which resembles a towel dryer having a chromed body, which sets aside the above named disadvantages and is further, simple and economical to produce. In other words, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a functionally more energy efficient towel dryer that retains a visually appealing, highly reflective body. The towel dryer would be capable of transferring a larger percentage of its heat by conduction or convection, and so could also be made smaller for the same rate of heat transfer to a towel.